PSL beats out IPL, according to an ESPNcricinfo report

The Pakistan Super League 2018 edition saw the best fielding standards across all major T20 franchise cricket leagues around the world, beating out the Indian Premier League, Big Bash League as well as the Caribbean Premier League.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, which sourced data from Cricket21, the PSL third edition, held in February-March this year, had 82% of catches taken, with the champions Islamabad United converting 90.4% of their chances.

The PSL fielding stats are well ahead of the BBL, where last season’s conversion rate was only 75.6%. The champions, Adelaide Strikers, were third-best with an 80% conversion rate.

The IPL, as of April 29, 2018, has seen 81% catch-conversion rate. The CPL 2017 edition had an overall conversion rate of only 72%.

The catch-conversion percentage is calculated on the basis of the number of real catching opportunities and how many of them are held or dropped.

The catching standards in the PSL were widely praised by commentators and analysts, who placed the league ahead of its competitors in fielding aerobics and catch success.

Apart from the aesthetic wonder of the fielding aerobics seen so far, the math behind these catches is even more incredible: The catch success rate this season (so far) is 90% – the highest in any T20 league in the last two years.

That’s not all: according to cricket analytics website CricViz, the catches have often been difficult ones, giving this PSL the highest CricViz fielding ability ranking, ahead of the Big Bash League and Indian Premier League.